Bad Habit, Exhale Throughout Nose, Leaking Mask

[Biking4ever]

Hi,
without knowing it I have developed a habit of exhaling out my nose and I'm getting my mask leak v.often.
At first it was helping to control breathing and/or equalizing without using my hands but now I guess this is getting worse. How to retrain if I'm natural nose breather (on the surface) ? Would using a nose clip help me?
Has anybody dove with a nose clip?
Thanks
B4e

 

[cneal]

You could always buy a mask with a purge valve.

 

[snowdog61]

so what's the frequency of the nose breathing? Occasionally or all the time? I breath out the nose frequently but it's mostly to prevent mask squeeze and drain the mask. A nose clip seems like a real annoyance

 

[The Chairman]

I breathe out through my nose all the time. I never saw it as a bad habit. It's problematic on a rebreather, but not on OC.

 

[grf88]

A nose clip will result in a mask squeeze.

 

[ontdiver]

If it is becoming a real distraction for you try to control the practice during a shallow, low-task dive. If you can condition yourself over a period of time, you may be able to minimize the urge and the resultant leaking.

 

[KeithG]

I breathe out through my nose all the time. My mask only leaks if it is too loose. Once I tighten the strap 1 notch the leak goes away.

 

[tbone1004]

you can't clip the nose because of mask squeeze as mentioned above. This is one of two reasons that we have to have nose pockets in the mask as opposed to using swim goggles, the other being clearing the mask. If you are doing it all the time, sit in the pool with the mask on the back of your head, snorkel in. Inhale, exhale, repeat as necessary and on the exhalations, alternate between the snorkel and your nose. When exhaling through your nose, try to control the exhalations so individual bubbles are coming out of each nostril. It is all about developing breath control. Once you can do that quite easily it should no longer be an issue.

as another FYI, tight mask straps are really bad and will cause the double skirt to leak. When divers come up with a mask ring around their face it is because the mask is way too tight. The strap is to keep the mask from falling off of your face, not to create the seal. Most divers have their strap adjusted way too tight

 

[JohnJL]

I don't exhale every breath, but a few times a dive to clear a minor amount of water that has leeked in. If for some reason a larger amount of water, I tighten mask and I press on top of mask, look up and exhale through nose.
Ps I trim upper part of mustache also before dive a little amount of silicone on mustache . Also before silicone application I put baby shampoo in mask. You don't want silicone on glass LOL.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I exhale through my nose periodically, and I don't think it has ever caused leakage but I've always felt it is the reason I have more problems with fogging than most people do. In an effort to become more aware of it and get more control of it, I have twice spent 20 minutes at the bottom of a pool, maskless, just breathing, since you can't possibly not know you're doing it when a stream of bubbles goes up over your face when you do.

What I found is that the vast majority of the time, I wasn't exhaling through my nose at all. When I did occasionally and randomly do it, it was unconscious: I didn't know it was going to happen until it did. I don't know what else to do about it now other than just live with it, as I always have.

Except for the fogging, I wouldn't care. (And yes, I have scrubbed my lenses to within an inch of their lives, and am never, ever without defog.)